The Cosmetic Surgery Blog

The popularity of mommy makeovers has risen predictably after the sudden rise in birth rate. A couple of years ago, everyone was enthusiastic about pregnancies. Starting with a few Weather Channel meteorologists, the entire celebrity body as a whole began having children, and there was enthusiasm in the media about Britney Spears, Katie Holmes, Demi Moore, etc. The list went on and on, and the phenomenon became so prevalent that Maxim magazine for men ran a story on the "Hottest Moms." Now, things have changed, and gotten, well, ugly. Starting with the death of Anna Nicole Smith, there's been a decided turn against motherhood in the media.

While the courts have punished Britney Spears for continuing her partying ways despite having children, the court of public opinion has spoken out fiercely against her "overweight" appearance on MTV's music awards, a criticism that she has apparently taken to heart. All around, it seems that the natural bodily consequences of pregnancy have become suddenly, horribly apparent to all those who so eagerly rushed in to meet the call of maternal duty.

Fortunately, all those who found themselves unwittingly swept, whale-like, onto the beach by the mommy wave, can now be swept back into the ocean by the next one, the mommy makeover wave.

In general, a woman's body suffers several major transformations during pregnancy. Her breasts swell, her abdomen expands, and she gains weight in a number of locations dependent on her personal genetics. After pregnancy, these changes, and the physical and emotional stress of child-rearing, leave their mark. A woman's breasts sag, and her stretched skin is permanently marked. She may be unable to lose the weight gained, and, even if she is, she is often left with sagging skin that is no longer sufficiently elastic to shrink back onto her restored frame.

In response to these difficulties, many plastic surgeons are offering what they call "mommy makeover" packages, a combination of liposuction, breast lifts, breast augmentation, face lifts, tummy tucks, skin care, even "genital rejuvenation" options to try and counteract the physical consequences of childbirth.

My concern is not over the surgeries themselves. I am all for women wanting to look their best throughout the course of their lives. What does concern me is the general malleability it shows in us that we are able to be led around this way, from one thing to another, because the next thing you know, all these women will also be trying to get rid of that other pesky thing that gets in the way of them looking and feeling their best: the kids. Just like Britney Spears all over again.

A 1998 study confirmed that over 92% of women remove their bodily hair, especially on their legs and underarms. In a study of college-aged women (mean age 22.3) and high-school aged girls (mean age 14.1), researchers sought to get closer to the causes of the basic practice of bodily hair removal among women.

Interestingly, the high-school aged girls chose reasons that more strongly reflected the normative forces of society, choosing "Body hair is ugly," and "Men prefer women without body hair," as the two most compelling reasons for removing their body hair. In contrast, women chose more self-expressive reasons. Women say they chose to remove their bodily hair because "It makes me feel more attractive," and "I like the soft silky feeling."

Although the researchers conducting the study lump both these responses together as relating to "femininity/attractiveness," it is clear that this is not the end of the story. Teenagers place authority for the decision outside themselves, either explicitly in men, or implicitly through the blanket social judgement that "body hair is ugly." In contrast, women seek self-approval for their attractiveness and furtherance of their own enjoyment of self.

This distinction gives another convincing reason why teenagers should be discouraged from seeking bodily alteration through cosmetic surgery. With a poorly-developed sense of self, they are seeking approval from elsewhere, anywhere outside themselves. Only when women are able to make decisions based on their own desires should they be allowed to permanently alter their bodies through cosmetic surgery.

Although the study reported that the mean frequency of hair removal was weekly, women who wish to experience less frequent hair removal can do it with either intense pulsed light or laser hair removal.

SHE walks in beauty, like the night

Of cloudless climes and starry skies;

And all that 's best of dark and bright

Meet in her aspect and her eyes:

Thus mellow'd to that tender light

Which heaven to gaudy day denies.

One shade the more, one ray the less,

Had half impair'd the nameless grace

Which waves in every raven tress,

Or softly lightens o'er her face;

Where thoughts serenely sweet express

How pure, how dear their dwelling-place.

And on that cheek, and o'er that brow,

So soft, so calm, yet eloquent,

The smiles that win, the tints that glow,

But tell of days in goodness spent,

A mind at peace with all below,

A heart whose love is innocent!

This poem by George Gordon, Lord Byron, highlights some of the timeless aspects of beauty that cosmetic surgery seeks to maintain or enhance. If the nameless grace of your eyes is half impair'd by receiving one ray the less because your eyelids droop or sag, Blepharoplasty can return them to the best of dark and bright. Or if your smiles no longer win because of deep-set brow lines, these can be corrected with a Brow Lift or with Botox injections. If your skin no longer has "the tints that glow," numerous skin treatments like Chemical Peels, Microdermabrasion, or Laser Skin Resurfacing can help restore it. And, sadly in these days of war and woe, so many of our minds are not at peace with all below, a lack that is shown in the wrinkles that form around our eyes and mouth, wrinkles that can sometimes be addressed with a Face Lift or Injectable Fillers.

The poem also shows that physical beauty is more than just skin-deep, that it is often taken as a sign of "goodness" or "innocence." If you feel that your inner goodness is not being reflected, or you are being charged with a little more wild wear than is your due, you might consider contacting a plastic surgeon in your area through the Cosmetic Surgeon Directory.

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